La OIT y el trabajo penitenciario: por una necesaria reorientación

Este artículo analiza el enfoque normativo dualista de la OIT sobre el trabajo penitenciario, basado en la «exención estatal» respecto del trabajo forzoso, y trata de demostrar su desconexión con la realidad actual en que dicho trabajo tiene lugar, caracterizada por la proliferación de contextos híbridos público-privados. Los autores ponen de relieve la controversia que suscita ese enfoque y su cuestionamiento por parte de los Estados Miembros, exponen el alto precio que supondría para la Organización mantener su actual rumbo o ceder a las exigencias de flexibilidad de algunos Estados Miembros y proponen dos nuevas alternativas para superar el conflicto.     

On the Transmission of World Agricultural Prices

Two questions are asked about the relationship between domesticprices and world prices of agricultural commodities: are variationsin world prices transmitted to domestic prices, and do thesevariations in world prices constitute an important componentof variations in domestic prices? Domestic prices are regressedon world prices in various forms, taking into account the possibleeffects of exchange rates and inflation. The empirical analysisis based on data from the Food and Agriculture Organizationof the United Nations for 58 countries for 1968–78 andfor the countries of the European Community for 1961–85.The results show that most of the variations in world pricesare transmitted and that they constitute the dominant componentin the variations of domestic prices.     

Equivalence between fixed fee and ad valorem profit royalty

For an outside innovator with a finite number of buyers of the innovation, this paper compares two licensing schemes: (i) fixed fee, in which a licensee pays a fee to the innovator and (ii) ad valorem profit royalty, in which a licensee leaves a fraction of its profit with the innovator. We show these two schemes are equivalent in that for any number of licenses the innovator puts for sale, these two schemes give the same licensing revenue. We obtain this equivalence result in a general model with minimal structure. It is then applied in a Cournot oligopoly for an outside innovator. Finally, in a Cournot duopoly it is shown that when the innovator is one of the incumbent firms rather than an outsider, the equivalence result does not hold.     

Forecasting sales and product evolution: The case of the hybrid/electric car

We present a model that forecasts sales and product evolution, based on data on market and industry, which can be collected before the product is introduced. Product evolution can be incremental but can also take place by releasing new generations. In our model adoption of a new product is motivated by attribute improvements (enabled by technology evolution), and firms' attribute improvements strategies are motivated by market growth and directed by market preferences. The interdependency between attributes' improvements and cumulative adoption level makes the problem inherently dynamic. The dependency of attribute levels on adoption levels is assessed using industry and technology analysis. Market preferences and purchase intention response to attribute levels changes are assessed based on a conjoint study. The option of collecting and interpreting data about both demand and supply aspects, before the new product is introduced, enables us to estimate sales and technology progress endogenously rather than to require them as inputs. We demonstrate the method on the hybrid car market.     

Agricultural dynamics in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines

The introduction of new high-yielding varieties of cereals in the 1960s, known as the green revolution, dramatically changed the food supply in Asia, as well as in other countries. In the present paper we examine, over an extended period, the growth consequences for agriculture in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. Despite geographical proximity, similar climate and other shared characteristics, gains in productivity and income differed significantly among the countries. We quantify these differences and examine their determinants. We find that the new technology changed the returns to fertilisers, irrigated land and capital, all of which proved scarce to varying degrees. Complementing technology-related changes in factor use were investments, public and private, driven in part by policy. We find that factor accumulation played an important role in output growth and that accumulations from policy driven investments in human capital and public infrastructure were important sources of productivity gains. We conclude that policies that ease constraints on factor markets and promote public investment in people and infrastructure provide the best opportunities for agricultural growth.     

On the superiority of fixed fee over auction in asymmetric markets

It is well known that selling licenses for the use of a cost-reducing innovation by auction yields a higher revenue compared to fixed fee in a symmetric Cournot industry. In this note we show that this result can be reversed in an asymmetric Cournot industry, i.e., the fixed fee policy can generate a strictly higher revenue than the auction policy in an industry where prior to the innovation firms are cost-asymmetric.     

Effects of Macroeconomic Policies on Sectoral Prices

The effect of macroeconomic policies on the relative pricesof internationally traded and domestic goods has been the subjectof extensive study. Analysis of the way in which these policiesthen affect prices at the sectoral level is complicated by theheterogeneity of sectoral production: even the prices of singleproducts usually are determined by both domestic and tradedcomponents. We present a framework which first traces the influenceof macropolicy on the relative prices of exports, imports, andhome goods. It then accounts for each sector's degree of "tradability,"which is based on the importance of trade in sectoral income,and the influence of macroeconomic policy on sectoral prices.To illustrate the use of this approach, it is applied to a simulationof trade liberalization in Argentina. Our results suggest thateconomywide policies had substantial negative effects on boththe real exchange rate and the incentives to agricultural exports.